Vladimir Putin welcomes ‘limitless’ military cooperation with China

First modification: 04/17/2023 – 02:14

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu in Moscow on Sunday to welcome military cooperation between the two nations, which they described as a “limitless” partnership.

“We actively work through our military departments, regularly exchange useful information, collaborate in the field of military-technical cooperation and conduct joint exercises,” Putin said at the conclusion of the meeting.

For his part, Li Shangfu said, “China is willing to work with Russia to make new contributions to maintaining regional and world stability and security.”

Russia and China have strengthened their economic, political and military ties since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Even Chinese President Xi Jinping met Putin in Moscow last month.

The president added that the joint military exercises were carried out both in the Far East and in Europe and that land, naval and air forces have participated in them.

It is the first visit Li has made to another country since he was appointed last month. “In recent times, cooperation between Russia and China in the military and military-technical spheres has developed very well,” said Putin, who focused the speech on boosting regional security.

Beijing had announced Li’s visit to Moscow as part of a meeting with Russian defense officials, though it did not mention any meeting with Putin. Li, who appears in footage of the meeting shaking hands with the Russian leader, has been under US sanctions since 2018 over the purchase of fighter jets and equipment from Russia’s top arms exporter, Rosoboronexport.

Opening the meeting, Putin was pleased with the evolution of relations between Russia and China, while Li stated that relations between the two countries “exceed the military-political unions of the Cold War era. They are based on the principles of non-alignment and are very stable”.

China’s role in the war in Ukraine is officially neutral: it does not criticize the Russian invasion of the country but it does not encourage it either. However, the latest meetings of high representatives between both countries show the good harmony between Beijing and Moscow.

Ukraine denounces the existence of Chinese components in the weapons used by Russia

Ukrainian forces are increasingly finding components from China in Russian weapons used in warfare, an adviser in the office of President Volodimir Zelenskiy told Reuters.

In “weapons recovered from the battlefield we keep finding different electronic components,” said Vladyslav Vlasiuk, an adviser on sanctions policy. “The trend now is that there are fewer components made in the West and more – it’s not difficult (to guess) from which country – components made. China of course,” he said over a video call.

The Chinese foreign minister recently declared that China would not help Russia with weapons, a latent fear for the United States and other Western allies.

The war in Ukraine prompted a chain of Western sanctions, including the shipment of military and dual-use technology such as microchips that could be used in both everyday gadgets and military weaponry.

But information gathered by Ukrainian experts on the battlefield and shared with Reuters claimed that Chinese-made components had been found in an Orlan aerial drone navigation system that had previously used a Swiss system.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s office responded to Reuters: “Throughout history, China has launched normal trade cooperation with all countries, including Russia, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.” .

“Regarding exports of military items, China has always adopted a prudent and responsible attitude. China’s position and actions have always been like this,” they added.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, declared last month that China had not yet “crossed that line” of supplying Russia with lethal aid, but officials are closely monitoring developments and are concerned about so-called dual-use items.

“We and our partner governments are relentlessly focused on restricting Russia’s access to key technologies that fuel its brutality in Ukraine,” a State Department official said. “

The United States added Chinese companies to its latest sanctions, including a satellite image reseller that the State Department says supplied images of Ukrainian positions to entities affiliated with the Wagner mercenary group.

with Reuters